


Break Out - Hideout - Takeout

by Azaria_Serpens



Series: Venom (and Deadpool) are the Bad Influences Peter Needs in His Life [3]
Category: Deadpool (Movieverse), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Other, but it also gets a bit serious at times too, i can't believe i had to actually put that, still mostly a comedy tho, there's also some, this is a comedy first and foremost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azaria_Serpens/pseuds/Azaria_Serpens
Summary: With Eddie and Venom now captured by the Avengers, Peter and Wade must team up to break them out of their wrongful imprisonment and convince the Avengers they've changed.





	1. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the new story's out! I'm simultaneously dreading and looking forward to what you guys think so far . . . Anyways, hope you like the new chapter!

“Shit!” Wade exclaims, scrambling to his feet and reaching for a katana that wasn’t there.

Eddie quickly follows, helping Peter up while Venom hisses and makes themself bigger.

“Deadpool,” Tony says sharply, removing his mask and giving a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “How nice to see you.”

Wade narrows his eyes. “Yeah, you too,” he says bitterly.

“Pete, come over here,” Tony says, beckoning him.

Peter glances at Eddie and Wade regretfully before slinking over to Tony.

“What do you want with us, Stark?” Wade asks, stepping forward and looking around.

“Your little friend over there,” he says, gesturing to Eddie and Venom.

Venom growls and starts taking over Eddie.

“Now!” Tony shouts, covering Peter’s ears and crouching down.

A loud noise sounds and Wade gasps, falling to his knees and clutching his head. Venom roars in pain and there’s sounds of a scuffle before the noise lets up and it’s dead quiet.

“Eddie?” Wade asks, blearily opening his eyes. “Venom?” He stumbles to his feet and looks around the rooftop. “What did you do?” he asks scathingly, turning to Tony, who was now standing and looking impassive.

“What I had to.”

Wade scoffs. “Yeah right. Leave the ‘righteous hero’ shit, you’re only doing this to get off on ‘saving the world’ again.”

“And what would you know about that?”

“Not much, admittedly. But I do know two things.”

“Really, that many? And what would they be?”

“One, me and Peter aren’t gonna stop until Eddie and Venom are safe and out of your grubby little hands.”

Tony laughs. “Yeah, you’re never seeing the kid again. _Ever_.”

“Which brings me to point two. I know the difference between you and me.”

“Of course, even someone as _simple_ as you could figure it out.”

“The difference between you and me,” Wade starts breezily, ignoring Tony’s comment. “is that even though me and Eddie and Venom readily and willingly make jokes at Peter’s expense about his age, we still treat him like a fucking adult because we realize he doesn’t need to be coddled and hand-held. You don’t really seem to get that, because from what little I’ve seen here, it’s clear that you still see him as some kid. Which he definitely is, but that doesn’t mean you get to treat him like he’s _ten_.”

Tony blinks.

“What, no snappy retort? Must be my lucky day.”

He scoffs. “You’re wrong. And also, that’s rich coming from you.”

“Maybe. But you need to slow down and listen to me. Eddie and Venom didn’t do anything to deserve this, so you need to let them go.”

“Oh, really? Is that what it has you believe, that it’s entirely innocent in all this? What about the first week of May, hm? And the two weeks before that? Its time in San Francisco? Was it not _eating_ people?”

“They’ve changed, things are different now!”

“Wait, the first week of May?” Peter asks. “That—that’s not right, they said they’d be fine.”

“Of course it did,” Tony says, agitated. “It was _lying_ to you, Pete. Manipulating you, because that’s what it does!”

“No,” Wade starts, “you don’t get to just waltz in here and talk like you know them. They had their reasons, and you won’t even begin to hear them out.”

“You knew about this?” Peter asks.

“Well, yeah, I figured it out. Talked to them about it a bit.”

“See,” Tony says. “He kept it from you, they both did.”

“Of course we did!”

Peter looks away and starts biting his thumbnail.

“Wait, shit, that’s not what I meant. C’mon, Pete, you know us. They . . . had their reasons.”

“Yeah, so they lied to me about it?” he says bitterly.

“Well . . .”

“They’re villains, kid. It’s what they do. Now let’s get you home.”

“So, I guess it was all a sham then, was it?” Wade asks. “All that talk about ‘paying it forward’ and helping us because it was the right thing to do. Progress, you said.”

Peter sighs. “Yeah. But I can’t trust you if you go behind my back and lie the first second it’s convenient for you.”

“That’s it then. You’re just gonna let the _Avengers_ and Tony Stark keep Venom and Eddie and—and experiment on them. Or whatever other horrible shit they’ve got planned.”

Peter glances at Tony, who gives him a sympathetic look.

“Right now, I trust them to do the right thing,” he says, and it sounds almost strained. “Rule eight, remember? There isn’t always something out to get you.”

Wade narrows his eyes. “Riiight,” he says slowly.

“See ya,” Peter says, stepping up to Tony, who puts his mask on before taking off.

“Yeah,” Wade says quietly. “See ya.”

** . . . **

“Fuuuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Wade mutters, pacing his living room.

This was crazy, right? It had to be some kinda nightmare. The Literal Actual Avengers didn’t just kidnap his friends, Peter was still cool with them, everything hadn’t suddenly gone to shit in five minutes.

“Oh, very funny brain, getting clever now aren’t you,” he says, sitting down.

This wasn’t real. Obviously not, Peter was smarter than this, than to be swayed by Tony Starks see-through bullshit. Right? Right?

“See, it’s the details that always get you. Make a more realistic simulation and maybe I’ll believe you. He even got one of the rules wrong, that’s not like him. We don’t have a ‘not everything’s out to get you’ rule. Number eight is keep up to date with current events.” He pauses.

Was . . . Peter trying to use a kinda code? So Tony wouldn’t be suspicious? Maybe. He stands up and starts pacing again.

“Current events, current events . . . that must mean The Daily Bugle, right? So he wants to meet up, probably. When though? Maybe just whenever he can get away. I should probably get there then.”

Wade glances at his Deadpool gear. Was he reading too much into this? Maybe Peter had finally realized he had better things to do than hang out with them. Maybe he should’ve just told Peter about Eddie and Venom.

“Snitches get stitches,” he says under his breath, biting the inside of his cheek.

Oh well. He should at least go and wait there for a bit, just to see if he was right. He probably wasn’t, though.

“Desperate,” he mutters, grabbing his gear.

** . . . **

“You okay, kid?” Tony asks, stepping back.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m good. Just . . . need some time to think through some things.”

“Okay. See you later,” he says, flying away.

“Bye,” Peter says quietly. He shakes his head and walks out to the front of the building. Too many thoughts were swirling around his head, each slipping through his fingers before he could give it proper consideration. It almost didn't feel real, more like a bad dream than anything.

He cautiously opens the door to the apartment and slinks inside, careful not to wake May while he went back to his room.

“Okay,” he says, closing the door. “This is . . . not fine, this is Very Not Fine. Oh my God, Eddie and Venom just got _kidnapped_!” Peter pauses and takes a deep breath. “We need—we need to get them out. Right. Even though they . . . lied to me . . . a few times, at least, including what Mr. Stark brought up . . . and Wade knew too . . . and didn’t tell me . . .” He stops and shakes his head. “No! That doesn’t mean I can just leave them behind. But I do need to talk to Wade about this . . . and them when we rescue them.” He glances at the clock on his nightstand.

He should probably go and see if Wade got his message. Nodding his head, Peter goes over to his closet and considers his Spider-suit. Tony had probably put the tracking and audio and video recording back in it, so that was off the table. He glances at his older, much more low-tech suit that he kept around for nostalgia’s sake.

“Well, guess you’re up again,” he says, grabbing it.

** . . . **

Wade was pacing again, back and forth on the roof, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner and hoping he was right and Peter was gonna be there soon.

A few minutes before he was thinking of leaving, a voice behind him says, "Hey."

He whirls around and sees Peter, wearing some cheap version of his Spidey suit, giving him an almost embarrassed look.

"Hey," Wade says awkwardly. "Are we . . . are we good? Like, with the whole, 'we kinda lied to you a bit, but we had good reasons' thing?"

Peter sighs. "Not really, no. And, I'm just curious, what were those good reasons?"

“Oh. Uh, I'm not really sure, you'd have to ask Eddie and Venom."

"Yeah. About that, we really need to rescue them."

Of course. We can't just leave them with the _Avengers_," he says distastefully.

"Well, I mean, they're not _so_ bad."

"That's because they _like_ you. They have a very big problem with me, especially your sugar daddy Tony Stark."

"He's not my—Wade, they're really not all that bad. But I can't just let them kidnap my friends."

"Agreed. So, what's the plan to break them out?"

"Break them out? I was just gonna talk to them about how they’ve changed and—”

Wade starts laughing and Peter gives him a bored look.

“You were just gonna _talk_ to them?” he asks in between fits of laughter.

“Yes, Wade, because they can actually be reasonable sometimes, believe it or not,” Peter says agitatedly.

“I would never even _dream_ of describing the Avengers as ‘reasonable’. And trust me, I’ve had some pretty weird dreams.”

Peter gives him a Look.

Wade raises his hands. “Fine, we can give that a try. And when it doesn’t work out, we can start our plan on breaking them out.”

“Fine, whatever.” He pauses. “What about Mary? She’s gonna be worried.”

“I’ll just tell her Eddie and Venom are staying at my place for a sleepover. That should buy us some time.”

“We might have to end up telling her what happened.”

“God, I hope not. I really don’t wanna tell someone that the Literal Actual Avengers kidnapped their brother.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound too fun.”

“Nope. So, tomorrow we plead with the Avengers to let our friends go.”

“Basically.”

“How’s that gonna work out exactly?”

“Well, I can have Happy drive us to the Avengers compound tomorrow. I have one of my biweekly meetings with Mr. Stark.”

“Will this ‘Happy’ character even let me in the car, or has Tony banned me from seeing you completely?”

“Probably, but I think we can fudge something.”

“_Great_,” Wade says sarcastically.

“And you’re gonna have to be on your best behavior.”

“Can’t wait.”

“It’ll work,” Peter says, though it sounded like he was mostly trying to convince himself.

“Yeah, sure,” he scoffs.

Peter sighs. “See ya tomorrow, Wade,” he says, walking away.

“Yeah, see ya Pete.” He grins. “Hey, nice costume, Spider-Boy.”

“Thanks, I made it myself,” he says before jumping off the building.

Wade lets out a breath and nods to himself. “We’re so fucked.”

** . . . **

When Eddie opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is a bright light.

“Venom, no!” he exclaims, sitting up. “You can’t . . .” he trails off and looks around the room he was currently in. “Ow,” he mutters, rubbing his forehead. The last thing he remembered was being on that roof with Peter and Wade, then . . .

“Shit. Venom?” he asks, cautiously searching through his head. “This isn’t funny, where are you?” He pauses and waits for an answer. “No, no, no, no, no,” he says, curling in on himself and clutching his head. “Venom, I’m serious, please just—” He cuts himself off and takes a deep breath.

“Okay,” he says, as calm as he can muster. “I’m in a nice-looking bedroom, Venom is gone, and the last thing I remember is Tony stark showing up and a loud noise. Fuck, this isn’t good.”

Eddie looks around the room again, paying more attention this time, and sees a glass of water on the nightstand with a little ‘Drink Me’ card propped up against it, as well as a pill bottle with a similar ‘Eat Me’ card.

“Hell no,” he mutters to himself. At least he didn’t seem to be in any current danger. Although, God knows what’s happening to Venom right now.

** . . . **

The next thing Venom becomes consciously aware of, is that they are no longer in Eddie’s body. Instantly on their guard, they start taking stock of their surroundings and looking for Eddie.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a voice says, before the matching face looms over the glass of the container they were in. It registers vaguely somewhere in the back of their mind that it was Tony Stark, but that was hardly the most pressing matter right now.

Unable to speak, they instead slam themself against the walls of the container.

“Feisty, aren’t you,” he says, stepping back. “We still need to figure out what to do about you. Thankfully, that Carlton Drake guy from the Life Foundation got through the majority of his research with you guys, so we know how to properly store you.”

Venom hits the walls again, powerless to do anything else.

“Don’t worry. We aren’t planning on doing anything too bad. We’re nothing like Carlton Drake.” He grins and starts walking away.

‘No!’ Venom thinks, throwing themself around. ‘Eddie, where’s Eddie?’


	2. Negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Procrastinate and not update my fic for, like, *checks date* two months? It's more likely then you think.
> 
> Also, Clint is deaf like he is in the comics, Disney can come fight me in a McDonald's parking lot.
> 
> Also also, whenever Wade is speaking and Clint's in the room, just assume he's signing along with whatever he's saying.

“I _still_ say this is a bad idea.” Wade mutters, biting the inside of his cheek.

“We’ll be _fine_,” Peter says, waving his hand. “Happy won’t mind.”

“Sure, because why _would_ he mind a mercenary getting in the back of his car.”

“Well, _maybe_ things would go smoother if you hadn’t brought your weapons.”

“Hey, I left most of the guns, you should be glad I did that.”

“ ‘Most’, oh, that’s really comforting. What, are you expecting a fight?”

“Yes,” Wade replies immediately.

Peter sighs. “Look, just, please don’t antagonize them. Or goad them, or anything like that.”

“You say that like you think _I’ll_ be the problem here and not them.”

“I’m _saying_ that you don’t have the best track record with de-escalating situations.”

“_Wow_. Guess that shows how much confidence you have in me.”

“Oh, I probably have way too much confidence in you. You’re the one talking with them, not me.”

“What? No, no, no, you can’t just do that, I need you to help, they won’t listen if it’s just me.”

“You’ll do good, I promise.”

“Why can’t you just do it, especially considering you’d be way better at it.”

“Because you can’t just ask me to stand up to _the Avengers_ and not turn into a stuttering, jittery mess. I was up most of last night trying to mentally prepare myself, and it didn’t work. I’m shaking right now just _thinking_ about going against them.”

“Yikes. That really sucks.” Wade sighs. “Okay, _fine_. I’ll stand up to them for you. Live vicariously through me, or whatever.”

“I wasn’t really asking you, but thanks anyway. Oh, that’s Happy,” Peter says, waving at one of the approaching cars.

It pulls up and the window rolls down. Happy glances between Peter and Wade. “Absolutely not,” he says emphatically.

“I told you,” Wade mutters.

“Pleeease,” Peter pleads.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he’s a _mercenary_. I’m supposed to take you, and only you.”

“He’s not gonna do anything.”

“And you know that how?”

“Uh, ‘he’, would like to speak,” Wade interjects. “I just need to talk with the Avengers about something, and Peter here offered me a ride.”

“You told him your _name_,” Happy says, astonished. “Does he . . . _know_?”

Peter sighs. “Yes.”

“It’s a whole thing, you missed the chapters, can we go now?” Wade asks.

Happy glances between them. “Whatever, just get in,” he mutters, unlocking the doors.

Peter breathes out in relief and Wade grins and opens the door.

** . . . **

“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think Tony’s gonna be?” Wade asks casually, looking up at the Avengers Compound.

“Well, I’m gonna say one, because I’m _trying_ to be optimistic about this.”

“Good luck. So, do we just go look for ‘em, or what?”

“That’s usually what I do.”

“Then let’s get going,” he says resignedly, walking through the doors.

They pause in the lobby-ish area and Wade asks, “Which way?”

“Well, Tony’s usually somewhere over there,” Peter says, waving his hand to the left, where the labs were.

“Then I suggest we go this way,” Wade says, starting over to the right.

Peter sighs and follows after him.

A little less than a minute goes by as they wander the hallway, and they pass an open door. Wade suddenly pauses and backpedals a few steps. Peter turns and gives him an odd look that quickly turns to fear when he steps into the doorway.

“What are you two doing here?” Wade asks, addressing the people in the room.

Peter winces and carefully walks over, ready to start apologizing, before seeing Pietro and Wanda looking back at them, eyes wide.

“Shouldn’t you guys be back at the Mansion?” Wade continues, taking on a more judgmental tone of voice.

They blink, mouths open and at a loss for words.

He gasps suddenly, an offended look on his face, and asks, “Is this where you’ve been spending all your time away? Were all your self-appointed ‘missions’ for _them_?”

“No!” they exclaim simultaneously.

Pausing, they glance at each other before Wanda says, “Well, yes. Sometimes.”

“We do still have other missions,” Pietro adds.

“It’s just . . . we do some stuff for the Avengers. On the side.”

Wade shakes his head, a disapproving looks on his face. “_Them_. Really? Of everyone, _them_?”

“It was an accident.”

“An accident? Oh, yeah, because that’s something that happens. ‘How’d you get here?’ ‘Oh, I _accidentally_ joined the Avengers’.”

They glare at him, and Peter winces, pointedly staying out of the doorway.

“We were working on that H.Y.D.R.A mission a while ago, and they showed up and . . . ‘rescued’ us,” Pietro says uncomfortably.

“We didn’t really know what to do, so we just went along with it. Then we . . . got inducted.”

“ ‘On accident’?” Wade asks mockingly.

“No. But they asked, and it would’ve been rude to say no, they’d been so nice to us . . .” Pietro trails off, glancing away.

“Please don’t tell the others, Wade,” Wanda says, almost pleadingly. “It’s not like we’ve been shirking our other duties.”

Wade sighs loudly. “_Fine_. I don’t agree with this, especially since you helped kidnap our friends, but it’s not like I can do anything.”

They give him a confused look.

“You mean . . . that alien thing and Eddie?” Pietro asks.

“We weren’t apart of that, we were doing another mission. You’re friends with it?”

“_Them_. We're friends with _them_. Actually, that's why we're here, to try and convince Tony Stank to let them go. At Peter's insistence, of course. I wanted to break them out, but he's all about 'peaceful resolutions' or whatever."

Peter mock glares at him, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Pietro and Wanda exchange equally uncomfortable looks.

Almost as if sensing the sudden shift in mood, Peter clears his throat and steps forward, saying, “But, we’re going to go over that in a bit, so you guys just stay here until it’s time.” He tugs on Wade’s arm and starts leading him away.

“Aw, c’mon,” Wade starts, half-hearted struggling against him, “I was about to grill ‘em some more.”

“Save the grilling for later, we need to find Tony.”

“Ehn,” he groans petulantly. “Can’t we just talk to them all separately then skip out while they gang up on Tony for sucking and kidnapping our friends?”

“No, because we’re handling this like mature, responsible adults, and that means we have to _talk_ and _communicate_ so there’s no more misunderstandings.”

“You’re no fun. Where is Mr. Buzz-Kill himself, anyways?”

“Probably in the labs. Y’know, the place I was _trying_ to take us to earlier.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Lead the way, webs.”

** . . . **

A few more minutes of searching don’t yield much more, and Peter was starting to feel a little discouraged. He peers into another empty lab and sighs. He glances back at Wade, who was whistling a merry, meandering tune and nervously tapping his fingers on his arm. His head suddenly snaps up and he moves to hide behind Peter.

Tony walks around the corner a few seconds later and stops and stares, his eyes wide.

“What the—” he starts, taking in the scene in front of him. “Why the _fuck_ are you here?” he angrily asks Wade. “Get away from him,” he says forcefully, stepping forward and shooing him away.

Wade glares at him and steps back. “Wow, thanks for the warm welcome,” he mutters sarcastically.

Tony laughs, almost incredulously. “Warm welco—warm welcome? Get out of here!”

“No," he says defiantly, crossing his arms.

“No?” Tony says, chuckling incrementally. “_No_? _You_ don’t belong here. You’re not welcome here, I probably informally banned you at one point, so _get_. _Out_.”

“I’m here as Peter’s guest, who is your guest, so you don’t have any right to kick me out.”

“Speaking of which,” Tony says, turning to Peter. “I thought I told you to stay away from him.”

He shrinks back a little, slouching and staring at the floor. “Uh, yeah,” he murmurs awkwardly.

“Then why is he here? Why did you bring him here, and talk to and interact with him?”

His voice bears down in judgement and Peter starts nervously biting his cheek. “We wanted to talk to you about something,” he says, a little louder this time, but quite yet at regular volume.

“Yeah I’m sure _he_ did,” Tony says, glaring at Wade.

“No, it’s, uh, both of us. About, um . . . y’know . . .”

“Kidnapping our fucking friends, asshole,” Wade continues seamlessly.

Peter gives him an alarmed look.

Tony’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, wow, around the kid too. And here I thought he’d taught you some manners.”

Wade glares at him, and Peter glances between them apprehensively.

“Okay!" he interjects quickly. "Mr. Stark, can you please just call a meeting with everyone so we can talk?"

Without taking his eyes off of Wade, Tony says, “F.R.I.D.A.Y., call an Avengers meeting. Tell them . . .” He pauses considerably, then grins. “Tell them we have a pest problem.”

Wade takes a deep breath, then puts on a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Thank you,” he says, and it sounds strained.

“No problem,” Tony says, returning the fake smile.

Peter closes his eyes and lets out a breath. This was gonna be a _long_ next few hours.

** . . . **

“So, we all here then?” Tony asks, watching Pietro and Wanda file in.

“Yeah,” Steve says, sounding almost bored. “So, what’s this ‘pest problem’ you mentioned?”

Tony grins, just on this side of unnerving, and says, “You guys know Peter, right? And Deadpool?”

Everyone exchanges confused, uneasy expressions.

“They have something to tell us.” He steps aside and Peter and Wade step into view.

Pietro and Wanda grimace and put their hands to their foreheads.

“Hey,” Wade says awkwardly. He nods to Clint and moves an open hand up and brings it to his temple before giving him a vertical salute. “So, uh,” he starts, signing along with the words. “not really sure how to start this, so I guess I’ll just get right into it. You guys shouldn’t’ve ki—um, _taken_ Eddie and Venom. Now, I know Tony’s probably told you some crazy, wild, reason why you shouldn’t trust them and all that, but I’m here to say he was ly—um, didn’t have all the information. Y’see, it all started when . . .”

** . . . **

“. . . and that’s why you should let Eddie and Venom go.”

Tony chuckles and steps forward, trying and failing to hide his almost triumphant smile. “Thank you, Deadpool, for that . . . interesting speech. We’ll give it a thorough consideration,” he says smugly, sounding insincere.

Wade glares at him. “I should hope so. We’ll be waiting.”

“Oh, no, I think it’s time you left.”

“Well, I came here with Peter, so unless he’s leaving now, you’re stuck with me.”

“I can have Happy take you back.”

“No, I think I’ll stick around. You guys need some time to think about this. Mull it over.”

Tony takes in a deep breath. “Fine. Just, go wait in the next room.”

Wade sticks his tongue out at him and walks away.

“Thanks for listening,” Peter says quietly, starting to follow him.

“Nu-uh, you’re staying out here.”

He opens his mouth to complain, but stops. “Okay,” he murmurs, moving to sit in a vacant chair.

“So, Tony says, turning to face the rest of the Avengers. “Thoughts?”

** . . . **

“Peter, anything you’d like to add?” Tony asks, turning to him after everyone had said their piece.

He looks up in surprise. “Uh, no.”

“Great. Now, let’s put this to a vote. All in favor of letting them go?”

Clint, Steve, Pietro, and Wanda all raise their hands.

Tony smiles. “All against?”

He raises his hand, along with James, Natasha, Thor, and Sam. Bruce shifts in his seat uncomfortable for a few seconds before following suit.

Peter closes his eyes and sighs sadly.

“Then it’s decided. They’re staying here with us.”

“What?!” Wade exclaims, walking into the room. “No, you can’t do that!”

“And why not? They’re a danger to themselves and others, so it’s in everyone’s best interest they stay here under supervision.”

“But you—” Peter stands and grabs his forearm, shaking his head. Wade glares at them. Then he grins. “Fine. We’ll see you later. Not too soon, though, I hope.” He winks at Clint and the Maximoff twins.

“Glad to see you’re finally leaving,” Tony says, and it’s the most genuine thing he’s said to Wade all day.

“Yep. C’mon Pete.”

“Yeah, no. He’s staying here. We’ve still got our bi-weekly catch up.”

Peter steps towards Wade and looks back at Tony, meeting his eyes. “I’m going, actually,” he says, sounding almost confident. “I don’t feel like sticking around right now. I’ll see you in a couple weeks, though.”

Tony’s eyes widen in surprise. Wade gives him a triumphant smile. “Guess we’ll be leaving then,” he says smugly, starting to walk away.

“I’ll let Happy know we’re ready to go,” Peter murmurs awkwardly, following him.

** . . . **

The rest of the Avengers file out after that, glad to remove themselves from the delicate situation. Tony huffs and starts pacing, feeling undermined and upset.

“He can’t just _do_ that. Peter doesn’t know what he’s doing, but I don’t know how he convinced him he wasn’t a threat. I mean, ‘mercenary’ doesn’t inspire much hope. I’ve gotta do _something_.” He pauses considerably. “Maybe if I . . . F.R.I.D.A.Y., call May Parker.”

** . . . **

“Can you _believe_ the nerve of them?” Wade says indignantly, opening the door and getting in the car.

Happy sighs and puts up the partition.

“I can’t believe _your_ nerve! I _told_ you not to antagonize Tony, and what did you do?”

“Antagonized Tony,” he mutters.

“Yeah! Not that it would’ve changed much, I guess, but it sure didn’t help.”

“Sorry,” Wade says, not really sounding it. “But you do know what this means now, right?”

“I don’t think I want to.”

“We get to plan a jailbreak!”

“You sound way too happy about this.”

“Well, I’m not happy our friends are being held prisoner. _But_, I haven’t had a chance to test my break out skills in a while, and to take on the _Avengers_? I’d say it’s a dream, but I think about pissing them off _all_ hours of the day.”

“That’s not a good thing.”

“Speak for yourself. So, you in?”

“Morally, or obligation-y?”

“Are you gonna help, or just sit in the corner and look at me disapprovingly?”

Peter sighs. “I’ll help you.”

“Great!”

“Glad you think so,” he mutters. “Also, do you think we should let Mary know what’s going on?”

“No.”

“She’s gonna get suspicious.”

“Well . . . damn it.”

“Yeah. I can take the talking on this one, if you want.”

“Probably for the best. You’re the more trustworthy public figure.”

“And what does that make you?”

“Your menacing mercenary bodyguard?”

“Hm, kinda hard to think of you as menacing after I’ve seen you pout whenever I beat you at Candy Land.”

“Wow, okay, low blow. It’s kinda hard to see _you_ as trustworthy after you ratted me out to Eddie about those doughnuts.”

“Hey, you’re the one who stole them.”

“And I was _trusting_ you to be a good friend and let me get away with it.”

“Well, just because _some_ of us have loose morals, doesn’t mean we can all live lawlessly.”

“You’re just no fun.”

“Y’know what, maybe I’m not, but at least I can keep my room clean for more than 10 seconds.”

“Actually, I’ve never seen your room, so I can only assume you’re lying to pretend to have the moral high ground.”

“Do you really think so little of me?”

“Sad you don’t recognize it when i’m trying to compliment you.”

“If those are your compliments, I’m not sure I want any more.”

“Oh, really? See if I say anything next time you make us food.”

“Who says I’ll do it again? My feelings are very hurt right now.”

Wade rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, yeah.” He sighs. “But you’re probably right. We . . . should talk to Mary.”

“Definitely. It’s not so late now, so we should go once we get back to the city.”

He groans. “Does it have to be _today_ though?”

“Sooner the better.”

“Alright. But you’re doing all the talking.”

** . . . **

Eddie was pacing again. He felt restless and lonely without Venom, and he didn’t have anything to do about it. He’d already searched every inch of the room to see if there was a way out, and nothing. A few of the Avengers had filtered in throughout the day, awkwardly asking how he was. Eddie was pretty sure it was to keep him from going insane of loneliness.

Not that it was really helping, ‘cause seeing them just made him angry. He’d always ask about Venom, and they’d always dodge his questions. Not even all that expertly sometimes, which was almost insulting.

There’s a knock on the door and Eddie pauses, glancing up at window. It was the twins. He sighs and says, “Come in.”

They unlock the door and step inside, not meeting his eyes.

“Your friends were here earlier,” the lady says.

His eyes widen. “Wade and Peter?” he asks hopefully.

“Yes,” the man says. “They were advocating for your freedom.”

“Does this mean we can go?”

“No. The vote was not in your favor.”

“Oh.” Eddie sits on the bed.

“We are sorry,” the lady says, at least sounding a bit sincere.

“Yeah,” he mutters.

“But, we, uh,” the man glances around the room, as if looking for anyone listening in. “we think they’ll be back later,” he whispers conspiratorially.

“If they couldn’t convince you guys once, what makes you think they’ll try again?”

“Not to talk,” the lady says.

“Then what?”

“Y’know,” the man starts quietly. “to get you out.”

“Oh. You really think so?”

“Yes. I would not lose hope so quickly.”

“Thanks, I—I won’t,” Eddie says, almost disbelievingly.

“Good,” the lady says. “We just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Better now.”

They nod.

“Okay,” the man says. “Glad to hear it.”

They start to leave.

“Wait,” Eddie says.

They wince and turn to him.

“Can you . . . do you know if Venom’s okay?”

They glance at each other.

“We are not sure,” the lady says.

“We only saw it once.”

“Them,” Eddie corrects automatically.

“Right, sorry. We’d tell you if we knew anything. All we know is that they are in some kind of glass container.”

“Oh no,” he murmurs. “Well, thanks anyway.”

“No problem.”

They leave the room and Eddie sighs. He wasn’t entirely sure he could trust them, but Wade and Peter were probably coming to rescue them regardless. At least he had that to look forward to.

**. . .**

Venom wished they could pace. They felt restless and lonely without Eddie, and they didn’t have anything to do about it. They knew there was no way to escape their container, since it was exactly like the ones Carlton Drake had kept them in, and they’d never been able to get out of it.

And, unfortunately, it was small, so they could hardly do more than thrash about. The glass container rattles a bit, and Venom settles on the bottom. They didn’t feel much like fighting anymore.

Some footsteps pass the doorway, and Venom glances over. One of the Avengers, the one with the outdated ranged medieval weapon, was staring at them. He stands there for a few more seconds before walking closer, stopping in front of the glass.

They rise up a bit, looking back. They stare at each other for a few minutes. The Avenger then nods to himself, and walks away. Venom drops down to the bottom of the container again, feeling much more confused than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna take this time down here to remind everyone that I have a Tumblr! You can find me over there at azaria-serpens. Not that I really use it to update about my writing, unless you include rebloging writer memes about how hard writing is. Maybe I should start doing that . . . Then again, I wouldn't know where to start, so maybe not. Anyways, hope you liked the chapter! Hopefully you won't have to wait two months for the next one


	3. Exposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, I'm back, and with a new chapter to boot! Sorry for the wait, and I hope you guys like it!

Mary looks up from her book when she hears a knock at the door. Must be Eddie. She marks her place and gets up, preparing a mini speech on why he should’ve been home sooner, to help her unpack, and opens the door. She freezes.

“Hey,” Spider-Man says awkwardly. His voice sounds familiar, and he’s wearing what looks like a cheap knockoff of his suit. If it weren’t for Deadpool lurking in the background, looking very uncomfortable, she would’ve thought it was some kind of prank.

“Where’re Eddie and Venom?” Mary asks, fear creeping in her voice.

“That’s, uh, what we’re here to talk to you about. Can we come in?”

She looks at them warily. “Sure.”

They step inside and she closes the door.

“What happened?” Mary asks, trying to sound unfazed, and probably failing.

“Oh, um, well, Eddie and Venom were, recently . . . cap—uh, tak . . . _picked up_ by . . . a non-hostile entity.”

Deadpool sighs and facepalms. Mary blinks, still trying to parse out what he meant.

“What I mean is,” Spider-Man starts, backtracking. “Eddie and Venom aren’t in any danger, at least we think they aren’t, but they’re kinda being held somewhere. Against their will. A little bit.”

“Oh my God,” Deadpool mutters.

“So, what, they’ve been kidnapped?” Mary says and, feeling a bit frantic, starts to pace.

“Uh, well, yes? Kinda?”

“Wh—I mean, who did it? Are you gonna help them?”

“Yes, yes we are. And it was, um, the . . . Avengers.”

She stops and _stares_ at him. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

“The Avengers kidnapped your brother and Venom,” Deadpool says bluntly.

“What the _fuck_?” Mary says, feeling absolutely dumbfounded. This wasn’t something that just _happened_ to people. Only villains got dealt with by the Avengers, and annoying as Eddie and Venom could be, they were no villain.

“I know, right?” Deadpool says. “We’re planning on breaking them out, though.”

“Breaking them out?” she asks, sounding a little dazed. “From the _Avengers_? Is that a good idea?”

“No,” Spider-Man admits. “But we’re still gonna try.”

“Is—is there anything I can do? I wanna help.”

“Uh . . .” Spider-Man and Deadpool glance at each other.

“Please. I can—I can distract them or something.”

“We’ll have to think about it,” Spider-Man says uneasily.

“Yeah, of course,” she says, shaking her head. “Oh, uh, do you guys want some food, or something to drink?”

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Spider-Man starts.

“Ha, speak for yourself,” Deadpool says. “Wha’d’ya got?”

Spider-Man gives him a look and elbows him in the ribs.

“What? I’ve had a long day, I’m hungry.”

“I’m sure Mary doesn’t want us staying any longer than we should,” Peter says pointedly.

“No, I don’t mind,” Mary says quickly. “Stay here for a bit and start making up your plans. I want to do _something_.”

“Well, if you insist,” Deadpool says, sliding over to her fridge. “I think I’ll have that spaghetti I noticed the other day,” he murmurs.

Mary furrows her eyebrows and looks over at Deadpool. ‘The other day’? She hadn’t had any visitors over at the new place yet. Except . . .

“Wade?” she asks incredulously.

“Yeah?” he says, turning to her. He suddenly freezes. “I mean, uh, who? Wade, who’s this ‘Wade’, he sounds like a handsome fellow.”

“Dang it,” Spider-Man mutters.

“Peter?” Mary asks tentatively.

He sighs and takes off his mask. “Yeah, it’s us.”

Her eyes widen. “But you, you’re . . . what?”

“Are you okay?” Peter asks, concerned. “Do you need to sit down?”

“No, no, I’m . . .” she trails off and gives them an odd look. She shakes her head. “I can deal with this later. Just, make yourself at home for now, start up on your plans. I’ll . . . well, just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“We will,” Peter says. “And, thanks. If you need any more help unpacking—”

“I’m fine. Eddie and Venom can help me once you guys get them out.”

“Okay. So, Wade. Where do you think we should start?”

He grins. “Well, I’m glad you asked.”

**. . .**

Peter was actually feeling better when he left Mary’s place, his spirits lifted by the plan they’d started working out. So, maybe when he snuck back into his room, he was less cautious than normal. Not that it really mattered, since as soon as he sat down on his bed the lights were suddenly turned on. May, standing at his doorway, looking at him with such concern he briefly wondered if he was injured and hadn’t noticed.

“Where have you been?” she asks, walking forward into the room. “I was worried.”

“Um, out with friends?”

May narrows her eyes. “Which friends?”

“Oh, you’ve never met them.” He clears his throat awkwardly. “It’s, uh, those people I’m helping out with that thing.”

“What thing?”

“Y’know . . . stuff.”

She gives him a Look, then sighs. “Pete, I know about Deadpool and Venom.”

He stiffens. “Uh, who? I—”

“Please, don’t lie to me, Peter. Tony gave me a call earlier.”

He winces. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’. I have to say, I was hurt. And angry, but I’ve had a bit to think this through and calm down a bit. I’m willing to hear your side of the story. Just, don’t lie to me anymore, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” He takes a deep breath. “Well, it all started when I ran into this guy at the Daily Bugle . . .”

**. . .**

“We really do need to talk to him about it,” Steve says.

“And say what?” Bruce asks. “ ‘Hey, Tony, we’d like some more information on that dude you had us kidnap a few days ago. Also, is he our prisoner now, or are we letting him go’.“

“Well, yeah. We have to say something.”

“I mean . . . yes. I felt fine with this earlier, but it’s been a few days, and even though I don’t trust Deadpool, he had some . . . points. Giving it more thought now, I don’t know.”

“We should just ask him then. He probably has some kind of plan.”

“I would hope so.”

Steve nods. “Then it's settled."

"Great, have fun with that conversation. I'll be in my room."

"Really? Okay then, suit yourself. I’ll talk to him about it alone."

"Talk to who about what?"

They whirl around and see Tony standing there.

“You, actually,” Steve says. “About Eddie and that alien thing. Do you have a plan for dealing with them, or do we now have two more permanent residents?”

“Oh, right, I’ve been meaning to bring this up, thanks for reminding me. First off, Venom is obviously a danger to, well, everything, so we’ll be keeping it in its container. As for Eddie, I think we should be trying to decondition him from whatever Venom did to make him think it wasn’t a threat. Then we can let him go.”

Steve nods. “Not a bad idea. How are we going to ‘decondition’ him, though?”

“Well, until I can find a proper licensed therapist I can trust with this, I was thinking we could start.”

“ ‘We’ as in . . ?”

“The Avengers.”

Bruce chuckles incredulously. “Is that really a good idea?”

“Unless you have a better one.”

He pauses considerably. “No, I guess not.”

“Then who wants to take the first shift, so to speak?”

“Not me,” Steve and Bruce say simultaneously.

“I’ll ask someone else then.” He walks away, muttering something about ‘Scott’ and ‘journalism’.

**. . .**

". . . and then we left Mary's place. I came back here, and he went to his apartment."

May nods, a thoughtful look on her face. "I still think you should've told me about them sooner."

"I never really found the right time. I mean, if I'd suddenly come up to you and was like, 'Hey, I'm hanging out with Deadpool, y'know the mercenary, and a new hero that used to eat people', I don't think you would've taken it so well."

"Probably not. But I'd prefer to hear stuff like this directly from you, and not from Tony Stark."

"Yeah. I should've made the right time."

"Exactly. So, how can I help?"

"What?"

"Help you break out your friends."

"Uh . . . I mean, nothing I can think of right now," Peter says awkwardly.

"Well, if you think of anything."

"Yeah, I'll let you know."

"Good." She stands up to leave, but pauses in the doorway. "Oh, when's the next time you're meeting up with Deadpool to discuss this?"

"Tomorrow, probably."

"Well, let me know what time so I know when to get off work."

"What?"

"Peter, as much as I do trust you, I would still like to meet at least one of the men you've been spending so much time around."

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll—I'll let him know."

"Thanks. Good night, Pete."

" 'Night."

**. . .**

Eddie was tired. Not really physically, but his mind was feeling a bit slow and fuzzy. He was also bored. There were a few books scattered around, but none of them caught his attention. He’d tried doodling in the notebook on the desk, but it was never really his favorite thing to do.

He was currently entertaining writing a first draft on an article about his current imprisonment. Not that the Avengers would actually let it be published. J. Jonah Jameson could fight with the best of them against censorship, but even he probably wasn’t good enough to go against the Avengers.

Still, it would be something to do. But he could feel his depression creeping up and stealing his motivation, so perhaps not. Instead he lay there, in his bed, trying half-heartedly to fall asleep.

The door opens and he glances over, seeing one of the Avengers, Clint, he was pretty sure, walk inside. He stands there awkwardly, obviously unsure about whatever he was about to do.

“Hey,” Eddie says, at a loss for what to do.

Clint snaps his head up and looks at him, and Eddie notices small, green text flitting by on the glasses he wore. “Hey,” he replies, a slight lisp in his voice.

Eddie sighs and looks away. “So, you here to give me some passive, useless excuse for conversation and then leave when it gets too awkward, or something more productive?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Venom.”

He sits bolt upright and gets off the bed. “Really?” he asks, incredulous.

“Uh, yes? I just have a few questions.”

“Do you know if they’re okay? Have you seen them?”

“Yeah. I think Wanda and Pietro already talked to you about them.”

“The twins?”

“Uh-huh. I also looked in on them the other day. They seemed . . . I don’t know, honestly. It’s kinda hard to tell what a puddle of goo is thinking.”

Eddie chuckles. “I can’t argue with that. But Tony hasn’t been, like, experimenting with them, has he?”

“No. At least, not that he’s said to us.”

“That’s good. Oh, you said you had some questions?”

“Yeah. This is probably going to sound pretty rude, but can they . . . comprehend words and sentences? Language and all that?”

“Um, yes? I talk to them all the time,” Eddie says, feeling vaguely annoyed.

“Can they see?”

“Well . . . kind of. They usually see through my eyes, but I think they can see without me.”

Clint nods. “Got it. So, they’re a fully sentient being?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Well, thanks.” He walks to the door, and pauses. “And, don’t lose heart. Wade and Peter will rescue you guys.”

“Why are you telling me that? You and the twins, why are you . . . _helping_ me?”

Clint shuffles awkwardly. “Me and Wade, we go way back. Not _friends_ exactly, but about as close as you can get in our business. I can’t really speak for Wanda and Pietro, but I’m sure they have their reasons.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.”

“No problem. I’ll see if I can talk to Venom somehow, but I don’t think I’ll be able to give you a message from them.”

“That’s fine, just let them know that Wade and Peter are coming to help us.” Eddie pauses. “And, tell them I’m alright, but I’m worried about them.”

“I will.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later, maybe.”

“Yeah.”

Clint walks out and Eddie sits back down on the bed. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

The doors open again, and he looks over to see Tony walk in. Eddie takes in a deep, measured breath, and turns his head away.

“I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, really? I’m guessing it’s not someone _I’ll_ be wanting to talk to is it. Venom? Peter? Wade? Nah, obviously not. So, which of you sorry assholes wants to try more awkward conversation? I promise I’ll be as inhospitable as possible.”

Tony chuckles humorlessly. “No, none of them. Someone new. I think you’ll like him. He’s very . . . personable.”

“_Great_. And you had to deliver this news personally _because_?”

“Well, he doesn’t live here. Give me a sec.” He takes the laptop from under his arm and sets it up on the desk. He opens it and starts typing.

“There we go. You’ll be up and running in a few seconds. Have fun.”

“Oh, I won’t.”

Tony scoffs and walks out of the room.

Eddie sighs and sits up, staring at the laptop. He should probably go over there. The call was still connecting. He slowly gets up and walks over. A few seconds later, there’s a ding and a cheerful face appears.

“Oh. My. God.” The man says. “It’s really you.”

Eddie looks at him confusedly.

“Right, um, of course, sorry,” he shakes his head, “My name’s Scott. Scott Lang, I live in San Francisco. I used to follow your show.”

Eddie winces. “Oh. That.”

“Yeah!” Scott says, either not noticing his mood change, or steamrolling right over it. “You dropped off the grid for a while, then that whole Life Foundation thing happened, and the next thing I know, Tony’s mentioning he’s got someone called Eddie Brock who’s been brainwashed or something, and I'm thinking, ‘there’s no way’, but lo and behold, here you are.”

Eddie blinks, taking in that information. “Did you say brainwashed?”

“Well, yeah, by that alien parasite thing.”

“Not a parasite,” he corrects coldly. “And their name is Venom.”

Scott pauses awkwardly. “Uh, _okay_.”

Eddie sighs. “Why are you talking to me? What does Tony think you’re gonna do?”

“Well, he didn’t really say. Something about how he’s not inhumane, and you weren’t going to be in solitary confinement, human contact, helping you move on, stuff like that.”

Eddie perks up a bit. “Move on? From what?”

“Venom, I guess. He didn’t really go into details, but you guys were apparently pretty close mentally and physically, so he was sure separating you two would have some . . . consequences.”

“Did he say anything about what he’s going to do with Venom?”

“No, sorry.”

“Damn,” Eddie mutters.

“Why do you ask?”

Eddie chuckles humorlessly. “Call it a _consequence_,” he says bitterly.

Scott pauses considerably. “You were close to them, weren’t you?”

“I _am_ close to them, yeah. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Sorry, just asking,” he says, holding up his hands. “How’d that happen, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Eddie looks up and stares at him for a long while. He sighs, deeply, tired. “Y’know what, why not. You remember that Life Foundation thing? Well, you _definitely_ don’t know the whole story.”

**. . .**

Clint shuffles the index cards in his hands and glances around carefully. There were definitely hidden cameras set up everywhere, and while he would usually sneak around in the vents, the ones here are too small. And it would look suspicious. Or, more suspicious, at least.

He sighs and walks forward, through the doorway. Venom . . . perks up? Raises slightly? Looks at him? Whatever. He looks through his index cards and shows the one that says, ‘Can you understand this? Tap on the glass once for yes.’.

A few seconds pass, then Venom taps on the glass.

Clint nods slightly, bites his lip, takes a pointed breath, and questions his sanity. He glances through his cards again and holds up the one that says, ‘Eddie wants to know if you’re doing okay, tap once for yes, or twice for no.’.

A minute passes, Venom swirling around in the tank, seemingly uneasily, before tapping once.

Clint shuffles through his cards again. ‘I don’t have anything else to ask you right now.’ ‘I just want to say that Wade and Peter have something planned to rescue you two.’ ‘Don’t lose hope. I’ll tell Eddie you’re doing alright.’ ‘Can you tell me anything you want me to tell him?’

Venom taps on the glass twice.

‘Ok, thanks. I’ll probably see you later. Bye.’

Clint raises a hand in goodbye, and Venom watches as he leaves. They mentally sigh. It was nice knowing Eddie was worried about them, but they wished they could properly tell him they were all right. For now, at least. Really, they just wanted to see Eddie again. To _be_ Eddie again. Hopefully Wade and Peter wouldn’t be too much longer.

**. . .**

“Peter. Peter, wake up.”

Peter blearily opens his eyes, focusing on the fuzzy shape of his aunt next to his bed. “May?” he asks tiredly, feeling out for his glasses. “What is it?”

“I had an idea, about your plan to help Eddie and Venom.”

“Oh?” he says, slowly sitting up, putting his glasses on.

“Yeah. You said you were planning on sneaking in, so I was thinking you could use a distraction.”

“Uh-huh, me and Wade talked about that a bit, but we couldn’t think of a way to do it.”

“How about me and Mary do it.”

Peter pauses. “What do you mean?”

“Well, since we’re not doing anything, and I doubt the Avengers are going to hurt two regular people, so we could talk to and distract them.”

Peter bites the inside of his cheek. “I mean—”

“Pete,” she interrupts quickly. “I know you’d like to keep me away from all this, but I do want to help. And you need a distraction. And I’m sure Mary would be glad to assist too.”

Peter sighs, an uncomfortable look on his face. “What would you talk to them about? You can’t just walk in and demand to speak to them.”

“Mary could plead with them to let her brother go. Like, really getting into it, making a huge scene and all that. I’d be there as backup.”

Peter pauses. “That’s . . . not an awful idea.”

“I’ll have you know I was really good at improv back in the day. I don’t know about Mary, but I can certainly give her a few tips.”

“You’re not gonna accept a no, are you?”

“Nope.”

Peter takes a deep breath, and sighs. “I’ll have to run it by Wade, and make sure Mary’s okay with it, but if they agree, then, sure, why not.”

May grins. “Great! Let me know what they say. Now, you might want to start getting ready for school.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Thanks.”

“No problem,” she says, walking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, uh, forgot to mention this in the beginning, Clint has a pair of special glasses Tony made for him that can listen to what people say and display the words on them. Like real-time subtitles, because reading lips is hard and I wish I had a pair of glasses like that. Hope you liked the chapter!


End file.
